


"I have loved you for so long"

by buggiesreign



Series: Bughead One Shots [6]
Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Future Bughead, Unrequited Crush, bughead - Freeform, bughead in college, childhood bughead, childhood crush, childhood pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22981423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buggiesreign/pseuds/buggiesreign
Summary: Jughead Jones likes Betty Cooper.The only problem: Betty is pining after Archie.But that doesn't stop Betty from helping Jughead wherever she can.With bullies, his parents and anywhere else possible.aka, Jughead is telling the story of how he fell for Betty Cooper at 9 years old.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: Bughead One Shots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1377049
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	"I have loved you for so long"

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the stills posted by Roberto of childhood Barchie and the conversations that Ellie and I had afterwards. It is confirmed that Jughead liked Betty since they were young, so I decided to write this.

Jughead, at nine years old, was sitting at a table in the school cafeteria, his stomach grumbling, considering he didn’t have enough money to buy any food and neither of his parents cared enough to make him anything in the morning. He kept his gaze down, not wanting to attract any attention from anyone else at school. He was sitting alone, waiting for Betty and Archie, who were probably late because Archie had something important to take care of and Betty, as per usual, waited for him.

He remembered that morning, when the three of them met up and Archie forgot his guitar and needed to go back home. It was a cold January day, therefore Jughead suggested that Betty and him could walk ahead, to not freeze to death, but Archie asked them to wait and Betty, wanting to please Archie, who she was crushing on, agreed to wait. Jughead had sighed and agreed as well, not wanting to go alone to school.

Being around Archie at school helped him not get bullied as much, as most of the kids adored Archie. But once the protection of being with Archie is gone some of the kids took it upon themselves to make his life a nightmare and to turn his days at school into living hell. They teased him for his old and worn out clothes and the beanie he always wore, even back then. They made fun of where he was from and that he preferred reading and writing over sports and movies.

Jughead was about to get up and leave the cafeteria when he saw Betty and Archie walk towards the table he was sitting at. “Sorry Jug, I forgot my guitar in the music room and had to go back and get it,” the redhead explained, as he sat down with the food, he had bought himself that day. Betty sat down next to him, unpacking the food she had brought from home. “Betty waited for me,” he added, with a shrug, as if it was self-explanatory.

Of course, she did. Jughead thought to himself, frowning at how self-explanatory this all seemed to Archie. Did he not understand how lucky he was to have a girl like Betty be interested in him? Jughead knew the answer was no, but could hardly say that to them.

“Do you not want to eat anything, Juggie?” came the soft voice of Betty Cooper. The Betty Cooper he would’ve loved to spend more time with, but was pining after Archie. He lifted his head and frowned slightly, his face covered in embarrassment. “I don’t have enough money,” he sighed, with a shrug.

“Oh,” Betty said, her smile disappearing a frown taking over her features and Jughead wanted to kick himself, for being the reason for it. But Bettys smile, that could light up any room, was soon back on her face, as she got up and went to get a knife. She sat back down and cut her apple and her muffin in half, handing him a half of each, as well as one of her two sandwiches. Jughead was about to say something, when Betty got up again and brought back the knife and bought a chocolate milk.

“Now you have food too” she said, with a bright smile, as she gave him the chocolate milk as well. Archie barely even registered what was going on around him and Jughead looked from Betty to all the food she wanted to share with him. “Are you sure? I-“ Jughead began, only to be interrupted by Betty. “I am sure. I can’t eat that much anyway and you should have food too” she said, her face as determined as her voice and Jughead felt his heart skip.

“Thank you,” he said softly, his smile now matching hers, before both of them began eating their food and talking about the book they had to read for class, while Archie looked between the two of them confused and not knowing what book they were even referring to.

Betty sharing her food with Jughead had soon become a tradition and she brought more food, so they could share. Jughead was insanely grateful for her and the lengths she went to and made sure to thank her every day. Multiple times a day, to be exact and Betty would always giggle and assure him that it was okay, making his day so much better.

The following two weeks ran smoothly for the most part. Betty and Jughead were able to talk more and Betty seemed to make it a point to not be late to lunch, to share her food with him. Archie was oblivious to the slight changes or the lengths Betty went to, to make sure Jughead was okay, even though she didn’t have to, but Jughead wasn’t. Jughead knew how amazing Betty was and was thankful to have her in his life.

He was walking out of class on a Monday, after his second period had ended and made his way towards his locker, when Chuck Clayton purposely bumped against Jugheads shoulder. “Ow,” Jughead mumbled, surprised by the encounter. Chuck was obviously much stronger and way more popular, so Jughead kept quiet, as per usual, and walked to his locker.

“You didn’t apologize,” Reggie Mantle yelled down the hall and Jughead, who was standing by his locker now, turned around and saw Chuck, Reggie and a few more guys looking at him. Jughead wanted to say something; He wanted to tell them that he had nothing to apologize for, but knew he couldn’t.

“I- I’m sorry,” he said, his voice small and his gaze lowered, when Chuck walked closer, saying “I didn’t hear you”. “I said I was sorry,” Jughead repeated, but Chuck shook his head and reached for the book in Jugheads hand and read the title out loud, “The Great Gatsby.” Jughead once again didn’t speak up, as he watched Chuck rip his book in half, calling him pathetic for even reading it.

“Leave him alone,” came a familiar voice, though a lot angrier than usual and soon an angry Betty stood next to Jughead, glaring at Chuck. “You’re a bully, Chuck and it doesn’t make you cool. Leave him alone, at least he can read,” she said, with an angry huff and a small smile spread on Jugheads face, as Chuck walked away, followed by the other guys.

“Oh Juggie, I’m so sorry about your book,” Betty sighed and picked up the two pieces. “It’s oka-“ he began, but Betty was already speaking again. “I’ll fix this,” she said and walked down the hall and into the lounge, sitting down at the table and getting out glue from her backpack.

Jughead sat down beside her, silently watching, as Betty worked on gluing his book back together. He noticed that her forehead creased slightly, and she stuck her tongue out a little, while focusing and somehow it made him smile.

“All done,” she exclaimed, breaking his thoughts and he smiled at her, holding up the book proudly. “Almost as good as new,” he grinned and Betty handed him the book back. “Thank you,” he said softly.

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my pleasure. I don’t like how they treat you. It’s not right and you don’t deserve it,” she said and Jughead smiled at her. “I still want to thank you. You’ve done so much for me lately and I’m so grateful,” he replied, and Betty grinned at him. “Well, next time I need something, maybe I could come to you and ask if you could help out,” she suggested and Jughead nodded.

He promised himself that day, that no matter what, he would help Betty whenever she needed it.

For the years to follow, he continued watching Betty pine after Archie and still spent most of his days with the two, but Betty and him were closer than before. They talked more and Jughead quickly realized they share a lot of interests. His crush on the beautiful blond turned into way more over the years that passed and when the boy next door broke Betty heart, his broke too.

A few weeks later he finally took his shot and kissed her in her childhood bedroom and when she returned it, he promised to not only be there whenever she needed him, but also to love her for the rest of his life.

A now 22 year old Betty was sitting in front of his laptop, a few tears rolling down her cheeks, before looking up at her fiancé, who was sitting on their coffee table across from her in the apartment they shared.

“You promised yourself to always be there for me when you were nine”?” Betty asked and Jughead nodded softly at her. “I can’t believe I never saw it, that I never knew how you felt, until that day in my bedroom,” she whispered, looking back at the laptop and the words he had written.

“Do you like it then?” his voice came, sounding unsure and Betty put the laptop aside and took his hands in hers. “Do I like you writing our story? Yeah, I love it. And I love the first chapter,” she said, the same beaming smile she always had on her face, the room lighting up, even with the terrible weather outside, that was typical for New Haven.

Jughead cupped her face and pulled her in for a passionate kiss, that Betty eagerly returned.

“I love you Jug and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“I feel the same way and I love you. I’ve loved you for so long.”

Now it was Bettys turn to pull him in for a kiss and not shortly after words were forgotten, as Betty was underneath Jughead and they showed each other just how much they

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> I hope you liked this. Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes.  
> I'd appreciate some feedback.  
> Love you guys <3


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